


Take My Hand, I'm Running With You.

by Velocity_Owl87



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Edwardian, Character Study, Declarations Of Love, F/M, Family Drama, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Requited Love, Running Away, Secret Marriage, Sex, Sibling Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-04
Updated: 2016-10-04
Packaged: 2018-08-19 12:08:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8206913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Velocity_Owl87/pseuds/Velocity_Owl87
Summary: Jon Snow and Althea Greyjoy know they can't marry due to his being a bastard and she being an heiress. Edwardian England wouldn't allow it. Nor would the Lady Catelyn or Lord Eddard.So they eloped to Gretna Green, only to be caught by Lord Stark and given an unexpected blessing. While in Winterfell, Lady Stark does her duty to her family as she had always been raised to do.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So this is technically a loose sequel to "You're Old Enough to Read The Signs" but can be read as a standalone story as well. 
> 
> It was a product of watching too much Downton Abbey with my mum and a reader asking what happened after Jon and Thea eloped. So this story happened. It's set in Edwardian England where reputations were broken quite easily and a name needed to be upheld at all costs and I did write about what I guessed would have been the fall out of Jon and Thea's impulsive actions.
> 
> Proofed, but if mistakes remain, they will be edited later.

I

Lady Catelyn had arisen early along with her daughters in order to make their traditional pilgrimage to the chapel. Although she had never reconciled to the Presbyterian faith that the Starks had adhered to for years, she was all too aware of her duties. So she had cast off her Anglican upbringing and had been baptised into the Presbyterian faith and raised her children in it, even though she felt at odds with all of the doctrines and dogma. Yet she followed the duties of the Duchess of Winterfell and roused her daughters to accompany her, something that they bitterly complained about, since the men of the house were exempt.

They weren’t, but Arya never let that fact stop her from complaining about getting up every year. Sansa wasn’t pleased with the situation either, but she was much too well mannered to complain. Althea was usually half asleep and docile, going along with them, despite her family being strict Catholics and didn’t really care one way or another. She had accepted it as part and parcel of being a ward of Winterfell. However, it didn’t mean she stayed awake during the service and despite Lady Catelyn’s repeated efforts, Althea would always nap until Sansa discreetly woke her up before the service was done.

Keeping this in mind, Lady Catelyn waited until Arya and Sansa were downstairs eating breakfast before she sent a maid to wake Thea up and make sure she was somewhat awake and aware of her duties. Lady Catelyn was just finished her own morning toilette when the maid came back wide-eyed and breathlessly reported that Althea’s room was empty and that she had taken a small bag and her coat.

Worried, Lady Catelyn followed the maid to see that she had spoken the truth. Althea’s room was empty, with only a few things missing from her dressing table and closet. A lump of cold dread grew at the pit of her stomach as she then summoned Poole.

“Check the house please. Lady Althea is missing. We need to find her.”

Poole was unruffled and departed the room to send his minions to search out the missing Lady Althea. Lady Catelyn then went to breakfast and sat with her daughters, who were in the middle of their meal and for once, quietly speaking to each other rather than loudly fighting.

She had just poured herself a cup of tea when Poole came into the room.

“Madam, I’m afraid that I have to add more bad news on top of bad news.”

Lady Catelyn put the teapot down and looked at him. Lady Sansa and Lady Arya both stilled and turned to look at their mother to gauge her reaction.

“What would those news be, Poole?”

Poole cleared his throat before he replied:

“Lord Jon Snow is also gone.”

Lady Catelyn’s face went deathly white and then red as she stood up from the table.

“Sansa, Arya, go to your rooms. Poole, find Lord Eddard and tell him to meet me in his office at once.”

The last words were spoken icily, telling both her daughters that this was not the time to create a scene. All of them complied with her requests silently before she headed to her Lord Husband’s office where she ungracefully sank down into the cushions of his sofa.

Damn that girl! And Damn that bastard!

II

Robb was rudely awoken by the heavy door to his rooms slamming against the wall, bringing him out of his deep slumber. He jerked upright and sat up, rubbing his eyes and scowling at whoever had dared to wake him in such an abrupt manner. His scowl disappeared rapidly when he saw who it was that had cut his hard won sleep short.

Lords Umber, Glover, And Mormont had insisted staying up late and celebrating all of the engagements that had been hammered out at Winterfell Hall the previous evening. He hadn’t expected to be woken up at least until noon and to have his father in his rooms at what seemed like the crack of dawn was unnerving to say the least.

Something had gone wrong. Horribly so and Robb’s stomach clenched in fear as he recalled that he hadn’t seen or heard from either Thea or Jon the entire night. They had simply vanished after dinner and he cringed at the fact that he hadn’t even spared them a second thought the moment that Umber had shouted that it was time for a celebration.

He had expected it of Thea, since his mother had made it clear that there was no way she’d allow her to join Robb in any kind of debauchery on the pain of death. But Jon not being there really puzzled him, since they hadn’t seen each other as frequently as when they were young and he never missed a chance to catch up. Yes, he was painfully shy and awkward due to his perceived inferiority over his legal status, but they had grown up with the other Northern lords and Jon seemed to be okay with them.

Thea and Jon not being accounted for on the night before and the sudden appearance of his father made Robb anxious. He knew that Jon and Thea had some sort of feelings for each other. How deep they went, he wasn’t sure. They hadn’t been together enough for him to come to a reasonable conclusion of how much they liked or even loved each other.

But if there were feelings there, coupled with the fact that Thea was on the market, so to speak probably added up to something not good.

“Father? What’s the matter?” Robb queried, wincing at the sound of his rough voice. Something that would have normally earned him a stern glare and some sort of reprimand, yet no censure was coming from the Duke of Winterfell.

As it was, his father simply looked at his eldest before he answered simply with:

“Thea and Jon have run off.”

Robb took a few seconds to comprehend what he had just been told.

Thea and Jon. Ran off. Which meant...

“They’ve gone to Gretna Green, haven’t they?”

His father’s  grim expression and terse nod was all that he needed to confirm that particular guess. Robb himself was shocked, but not as surprised as he could have been. He had been aware at the dinner how Thea and Jon had been acting off. How Thea had snapped at Sansa at some point and how she had slipped out rather than stay with the rest of the ladies present to gossip and compare school experiences.  She usually stayed a bit longer before she went off on her own or rather, went after Jon, who tended to hide in the library if he was far too overwhelmed by the guests.

Robb also suspected he tended to do that in order to avoid the Duchess of WInterfell and not cause a scene. Although his mother was a paragon of motherhood, she had never really forgiven Jon for existing and would take out her anger on him. Even though the Duke was an outstanding man, she had never forgiven him that one transgression.

Nor had she forgiven the product of it, even though Jon was a son that anyone would be proud to have.

Robb rubbed at his face roughly and stood up from his bed.

“Are we going to fetch them back?”

His father nodded grimly.

“If we can intercept them before they reach Scotland, maybe we can keep this quiet. I can only imagine what will be on everyone’s lips if this gets out.”

Robb swallowed hard and stood up, glad that he wasn’t as hungover as he had first thought. He knew what his father meant. Society gossips would be quite happy to get their teeth into that gossip. Especially since the idea of having one of the Northern lords as the guardian for the Pyke heiress had been a bone of contention between many of the other titled families. The news that she had run off with the bastard son of the Duke of Winterfell would be too much for them to resist. Mother would no doubt be furious and putting out fires as quickly as they had sprung up.

“Can you give me fifteen minutes?”

His father gave him a terse nod in reply. “I’ll inform Yoren to get the car ready. I’ll meet you at the front doors in fifteen minutes sharp.”

“Understood, father.”

Robb wasted no time in summoning his valet and stripping off last night’s clothing. Although he didn’t agree with stopping the marriage, he understood how much stood at stake. And as much as he loved them both, he had the family to think of as well.

III

Jon held Thea’s cold hands in his, rubbing them briskly to warm them up as they sat in the now warming room at the inn. They hadn’t been able to make the last train to Gretna and had been forced by the weather to stay in Carlisle. Jon hadn’t liked it, but they had no choice. Thea looked to be almost half dead of exhaustion and looking like she would fall ill at any moment. Having her expire of pneumonia was the last thing that he wanted. So they had stopped in a decent looking inn and had gotten a room for the night.

“Maybe make it two. That weather won’t let up fast.”

The innkeeper had predicted darkly and Jon had done as they had said, as well as paying for meals and making sure that their room had hot water for the both of them. He had even insisted that Thea be the one to bathe first and drink the hot tea so that she wouldn’t get sick.

“I had forgotten you could be like this.”

Thea had murmured as she had sipped the strong black tea laced with whiskey that the innkeeper’s wife thought would do well for the both of them.

Jon laughed softly as he washed in front of her and forced the feelings of awkwardness and impropriety at being nude in front of her. It was ridiculous to feel that way, since they had already known each other’s bodies not even twelve hours ago. She was going to be his wife, he reminded himself. There was no reason to feel that way.

So he pushed those feelings down and ignored them, something made easier by her admiring glances over her teacup as she sat in one of the comfortable chairs by the fire wrapped up in her coat and her hair gleaming and loose over her shoulders. He had to admit that he was enjoying the rake of her grey-blue eyes over his body as he sponged off the last of the travel off of himself and climbed out of the bath.

“How could I not be? You’ve always been important to me. More than you had ever realised.”

Thea’s eyes flickered and turned dark, making Jon wonder if it was just the candlelight and light from the fire that made it so.

“I always did, Jon. You just couldn’t see it. Besides, it wasn’t as if the Marchioness of Pyke could show Lord Snow exactly how much I realised it.”

She finished off bitterly, no doubt thinking about Lady Catelyn and her sometimes stifling guardianship. Or worse, the guardianship of the boarding school she had been sent off to while he had been encouraged to pursue his own ambitions far away from her.

“It’s in the past. I won’t let her or Lord Eddard separate us again. I am of age and I can choose who I will marry and that will be _you,_ Jon. No one else.”

He wrapped himself in a towel and walked over to her, kissing the corner of her mouth. She shivered at his touch and bade him kneel on the rug and took the other towel and dried his hair off briskly before putting it back on the back of the chair to dry off.

She looked into his eyes and Jon felt himself flush slightly at the intensity of her gaze. She meant every word she had just said to him and he felt his heart hurt at her honesty. He had never thought those words would be spoken to him by her in his lifetime and now, there they were.

Not with their positions in society and the baleful eyes of Catelyn Stark upon them. His gaze softened, then hardened again. His father would be livid with them once they got caught out. He stood up and looked out the window, his brow furrowing as he looked out at the nasty weather outside. He hoped that it wouldn’t delay them too badly and that the train would be up and running to Gretna tomorrow.

He didn’t care about defying his father and his wife. Not when there was so much on the line. He was only worried that Thea would be locked up and forced into a marriage of convenience against her will. That would be the last thing he’d let happen. Thea would be his wife. That was the end of it. No one would separate them again.

“Worrying about the sainted Starks, are we?”

She teased him as he turned around and looked at her face, which was scrubbed clean and pale and making her look much younger and much more innocent than her years. He smiled at the sight, since he knew that she was far from that.  He had gotten proof of it in the Winterfell library not even a day before. The memory of that period brought a deep flush to his cheeks and a sly smirk to her lips when she noticed it.

“Ah. I think I can guess what you’re thinking about.”

She teased him as she let her coat drop on the way towards the bed. She sat there, letting the nightgown gape and give him a tantalising view of her chest. She smirked as she pulled the flimsy ribbon undone and let the gown gape open to give him an unfettered view.

His cheeks flushed crimson as he too let the towel drop as he moved towards her, making her crawl backwards and finally lie down on her back.

He didn’t say anything as he pulled the loose gown down, freeing her breasts and dipping down to suck on a dark pink nipple. Thea moaned at the warm tightness, her hands going to cradle his head, her nails raking his scalp as he sucked first on one and then on the other breast until she was lying down on the bed, her gown rucked up to her upper thighs just barely hiding what lay between her legs.

“Already?”

He didn’t give an answer to her teasing as he got ready to finish what she had stoked in him. His eyes were dark, completely black as he pushed the gown up to her waist and parted her legs. She waited, not sure what was going to come next when she felt the wetness of his tongue licking a wet, wide stripe from the bottom up, making her shiver and give out a soft cry. He repeated it until she lay open in front of him, her taste sour and clean on his tongue as he licked her, undoing her until she was sobbing his name in sharp, short cries and his mouth was full of her taste.

It was only when her fingers curled into his hair, to either stop him or encourage him that he moved to be on top of her. He kissed her bare shoulder, reaching down to adjust himself and slipped into that silken wet entrance. She canted her hips to accommodate him, encouraging him to continue.

He took the hint and moved, his hips pressing against her hard as he thrust against her. His hips moving in circles as he ground himself deep into her and making her reach out for anything to ground her as their bodies melded together, until her fingers finally curled up around the sheets.  Their hearts beating fast as they continued moving, neither of them really thinking of the act until Jon spent himself inside of her.

He kissed her face, his mind calm as his body was sated.

They would deal with everything that would come later. He wasn’t going to dwell on it any longer.

All of those things would keep, like bad news always did.

IV

Thea wasn’t surprised to see the Duke of Winterfell and the Viscount Stark waiting for them in the Gretna station once they had gotten off the train. She had wanted to believe that they had a chance when the morning dawned misty and cool, but clear. They had gotten their money back and had rushed to the station, catching the first train and hoping that they would be at Gretna before them.

Urgency had been needed when Jon had seen Yoren walking through the streets when he had opened the window to check the day’s weather. They hadn’t wasted any time, but they still hadn’t made it to Gretna Green as fast as they would have liked.

Her grip tightened on Jon’s hand as they both looked at each other and silently decided to face the two men in front of them. Both Lord Eddard and Robb looked blank as they walked up to them, Yoren standing respectfully in the back. Robb though, couldn’t help the slight flash of relief that washed over his face as he saw that they were both safe, if looking a bit worse for the wear.

“Father. Robb.”

Jon greeted him, inclining his head to acknowledge both of them.

“Lord Eddard. Robb.”

Thea murmured her own greeting, giving a small curtsey as well.

“Thea. Son. Are you both well?”

They nodded, their expressions ones of slight shock at being asked that. Even though he was a calm man, they had attempted to elope and it wasn’t something that would have been taken lightly by any father or guardian.

“Jon, Thea. What were you thinking? Father and I were so worried about you! We rushed out the minute that you weren’t at home!”

Robb exclaimed, moving towards his half brother and foster sister and embracing them tightly.  

“I was so worried! Come on, Father and I are here to escort you home.”

Jon and Thea pulled away from him at those words, Jon shaking his head and wrapping his arm protectively around Thea.

“We’re not going home yet, Robb. We’re going to get married.”

Robb’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth to reply, but his father stepped forward.

“That you will be. We came to escort you to Gretna Green and act as witnesses.”

Jon’s mouth fell open in surprise and Thea’s eyes narrowed in suspicion at his announcement.

“Father? Are you being serious? We will travel to Gretna with them?”

Robb asked the moment that he managed to gather his wits.

“What else can I do, Robb? They’ve spent a night together already. You saw how easy it was to track them down to here. No. There’s enough damage done. We just have to make the best of it and deal with the consequences later.”

Lord Eddard rationalised as he signalled to Yoren to bring the car round.

“You are being serious, father? You’d give us your blessing?”

Jon asked, still in shock over not having to fight to marry Thea.

“Yes. I will. Especially since I am sure you would marry anyways once my back was turned if I didn’t. Now come along. We have a wedding to attend and a message to send to Winterfell.”

“Thank you, Lord Eddard.”

Thea stated, her grey eyes shining as she dragged Jon over to the automobile, leaving Robb and his father alone for a bit.

“I didn’t think you’d give in so easily, father.”

Lord Eddard sighed. “It’s done, Robb. Better to have the Winterfell name behind them to ease the scandal than drag them back and make them face the fallout without each other. They would be miserable and never forgive me and that I won’t have if I can help it.”

He turned to look at Jon, who was once again animated and flushed with happiness as he helped Thea into the automobile.

He was reminded of another bride, with long dark hair and grey eyes who had been miserable with his choices. So miserable she had made a rash decision and changed too many lives because of it. He wasn’t going to repeat the same mistake if he could help it.

And anyone else would just have to accept the situation.

“Let’s go, Robb. Time is short.”

V

Lady Catelyn came down to the dining room and frowned at the tense atmosphere around the table. Robb and Ned hadn’t returned yet from Scotland, no doubt they were still looking for Althea and the bastard. Her lips pressed themselves into a tight line as she thought about Ned’s bastard. The nerve of him, thinking that he could aspire to marry a Marchioness!

And in an elopement no less!

They would certainly face consequences over _that_! There were plenty of lords that would be willing to overlook Althea’s minor indiscretion. She was also positive that Hornwood or Glover had a bastard daughter that would do nicely for Jon and get him out of Winterfell and Yorkshire into the Lake Country.

Nodding to herself as she decided on a possible solution on what could easily be an embarrassing situation that could besmirch the Stark name, she sat down and had her tea poured. It was once she had added lemon to it that she noticed Sansa and Arya sitting quite silent and still, the daily newspaper at Sansa’s elbow.

She divined that there was a headline she wasn’t going to like and her stomach curdled. She was about to ask Sansa about the newspaper when a maid came and deposited a letter onto the table by her elbow.

“This letter just arrived for you, Lady Stark.”

The girl mumbled, moving away quickly and leaving her with that letter that Lady Catelyn knew didn’t contain good news.

She picked it up carefully and slid a fingernail under the flap, and pulled out the heavy sheet of paper that bore her name in Ned’s familiar scrawl. She unfolded it carefully, read its contents and felt her world and her intentions crumble around her.

She schooled her emotions and looked up to see her daughters studiously avoiding her gaze and keeping their eyes focused on their breakfasts.

“How many people know?”

She asked dully.

Sansa looked up and pushed the newspaper towards her mother.

Lady Catelyn picked it up and saw that Sansa already had folded it to the society pages, which ran it under the “Marriage” column.

She closed her eyes and sighed.

She would have to deal with this and deal with it with a smile on her lips and bitterness in her heart.

That bastard and that willful girl had yet again ruined her careful plans.

As her mind started working, she heard footsteps coming from the hall. She opened her eyes to see Poole holding the silver tray where calling cards would be deposited. Usually, there would be maybe three or four in the morning. But this time, it had at least a dozen cards with different family crests. Something she saw the moment that Poole had laid the tray on the table.

She picked one up at random and saw it was from Lady Barbery. Of course the old witch would seek an audience with her if the news had spread as much as they had. Lady Catelyn picked another card up. Lady Alys Karstark. Lady Manderley. Lady Glover. Lady Hornwood. Lady Mormont. Lady Flint. Lady Bolton. Lady Tallhart. Lady Umber.

She took a deep breath and exhaled, composing herself for the unpleasant duty that was to be hers until Ned returned with the Marchioness and Lord Snowstark, his proper title she had never used until now.

“Poole, tell the maids and cook to prepare a luncheon and a dinner. We shall open the house and receive the calls. It is, after all, a great occasion to have one’s ward and stepson married. The Starks haven’t had a wedding in a long while, so what better time to celebrate this one?”

“Very well, My Lady. It shall be as you ask.”

Lady Catelyn smiled tersely.

She may have hated Jon and been terribly annoyed at Althea, but she was all too aware of where her duty lay.

She was a Tully after all and there was no way she would let the likes of Barbery Dustin drag the Stark name through the mud.

END.

 


End file.
